B.Electronic
Address for report: The FY2002 FOIA Report for the National Science
Foundation (NSF) will be available as one of the choices under the References section of the FOIA/Privacy
entry on the Foundation’s home page, at <http://www.nsf.gov/home/pubinfo/
foia.htm>.

C.Paper Copies of report: Paper copies can
be requested from the person/address listed above.

II.HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST:

NSF policy is to make the fullest possible disclosure of
information and records to any requester, without unnecessary expenses or
delay.NSF’s “Public Information
Handbook” is available electronically as one of the choices under the References section of the FOIA/Privacy
entry on the Foundation’s home page, at http://www.nsf.gov/
home/pubinfo/foia/htm.

There are four basic agency requirements for making a FOIA
request:

(1)request must be
in writing (mailed correspondence, fax, or email) and include the requester’s
mailing address;

(2)the envelope and
letter content must identify the request as a FOIA request;

(3)the request must
provide enough detail to allow identification of the requested records; and

(4)the request must
include agreement to pay fees chargeable under NSF’s fee schedule.

A.Agency Components:

Requests for records of the agency should be sent to the NSF
FOIA Officer, Office of the General Counsel, Room 1265, 4201 Wilson Blvd,
Arlington, VA 22230.

Phone:703-292-8060, Fax: 703-292-9041.Email:foia@nsf.gov

Requests for documents maintained by the Office of the
Inspector General should be addressed directly to the OIG, FOIA, Room 1135,
4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22230.Phone:703-292-7100.Email:oig@nsf.gov

B.NSF response-time ranges:

The agency generally manages to respond to FOIA requests
within three to four weeks for records that can be found at the agency
(allowing for time to contact submitters of potentially proprietary
information).Response times over 20
working days are generally the result of difficulty in contacting the submitter
for clearance, need to track and retrieve documents from off-site storage at
the Federal Records Center, voluminous number of potentially responsive
records, or need to consult among agency components.

C.Why some requests are not granted:

Requests for records may not be granted if the records do
not exist; if records have been transferred to the ownership of the National
Archives and Records Administration; if records contain predecisional
information that if released would cause harm to NSF’s decision- making
processes; records that contain personal and/or proprietary information; if
records contain information compiled for law enforcement purposes; or if the
requester asked for information specifically prohibited from disclosure by
other statutes.

III. DEFINITIONS
OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS USED IN THE REPORT:

A.Agency-specific terms and acronyms:

1.NSF - National Science Foundation – The National Science
Foundation was established by Congress to promote progress in science and
engineering.The agency does so
primarily through grants and cooperative agreements with colleges,
universities, K-12 school systems, businesses, information science
organizations and other research institutions throughout the U.S.

B.Basic terms:

1.FOIA/PA request – Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act
request.A FOIA request is generally a
request for access to records concerning a third party, an organization, or a
particular topic of interest.A Privacy
Act request is a request for records about oneself; such requests are also
treated as FOIA requests.(All requests
for access to records, regardless of which law cited by the requester, are
included in this report).

2.Initial request – a request to a federal agency for access to
records under the Freedom of Information Act.

3.Appeal – a request to a federal agency asking that it review
at a higher administrative level a full denial or partial denial of access to records
under the Freedom of Information Act, or any other FOIA determination such as a
matter pertaining to fees.

4.Processed Request or Appeal – a request or appeal for which an
agency has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in all respects.

5.Multi-track processing – a system in which simple requests
requiring relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more
voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks.Requests in each track are processed on a first-in/first
out basis.A requester who has an
urgent need for records may request expedited processing (see below).

6.Expedited processing – an agency will process a FOIA request
on an expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency
for the records which warrants prioritization of his or her request over other
requests that were made earlier.

7.Simple request – a FOIA request that an agency using
multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the
volume and or/simplicity of records requested.

8.Complex request -- a FOIA request that an agency using
multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the volume and/or
complexity of records requested.

9.Grant -- an agency decision to disclose all records in full in
response to a FOIA request.

10.Partial grant -- an agency decision to disclose a record in
part in response to a FOIA request, deleting information determined to be
exempt under one or more of the FOIA's exemptions; or a decision to disclose some
records in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.

11.Denial -- an agency decision not to release any part of a
record or records in response to a FOIA request because all the information in
the requested records is determined by the agency to be exempt under one or
more of the FOIA's exemptions, or for some procedural reason (such as because
no record is located in response to a FOIA request).

12.Time limits -- the time period in the Freedom of Information
Act for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from
proper receipt of a "perfected" FOIA request).

13."Perfected" request -- a FOIA request need not be in
any particular format, but it must be in writing, include the requester’s name
and mailing address, and be clearly identified both on the envelope and in the
letter, or in a facsimile or electronic mail message as a Freedom of
Information Act or “FOIA” request.It
must describe the records sought with sufficient specificity to permit
identification, and include agreement to pay applicable fees.

14.Exemption 3 statute -- a separate federal statute prohibiting
the disclosure of a certain type of information and authorizing its with
holding under FOIA subsection (b)(3).

15.Median number -- the middle, not average, number. For example,
of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

16.Average number -- the number obtained by dividing the sum of a
group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of 3, 7,
and 14, the average number is 8.

IV.EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES:

A.Exemption 3
statutes relied on by NSF during current fiscal year:

During Fiscal Year 2002 NSF used Exemption (b)(3) in 7
instances to withhold contractor proposal information not set forth or
incorporated by reference into the final contract, in accordance with the
changes made to 41 U.S.C. 253b, section 303B, by the National Defense
Authorization Act of 1997 (Public Law 104-201).

Statute RuleType of Information
WithheldCase Citation

41 U.S.C. § 253bBusiness
Proposal documents notNone

incorporated
in Contracts

V.INITIAL FOIA/PA ACCESS REQUESTS:

A.Numbers of initial requests:

1.Number of requests pending as of end of
preceding fiscal year:__4

2.Number of requests received during current
fiscal year:252

3.Number of requests processed during current
fiscal year:254

4.Number of requests pending as of end of
current fiscal year:­­­­­__­2

B.Disposition of initial requests:

1.Number of total grants (records released in
full):_51

2.Number of partial grants (records released
in part):157

3.Number of denials (total withholding of
records):14

a.Number of times each FOIA exemption was
used:

Exemption 1__0

Exemption 2__0

Exemption
37

Exemption 4_51

Exemption 5__6

Exemption 6146

Exemption
7 (A)__1

Exemption 7 (B)__0

Exemption 7 (C)_20

Exemption
7 (D)__0

Exemption
7 (E)__0

Exemption
7 (F)__0

4.Other reasons for
nondisclosure (total):32

a.No records18

b.Referrals_2

c.Request withdrawn5

d.Fee-related reason_4

e.Records not reasonably described 3

f.Not a proper FOIA request for some other
reason_0

g.Not an agency record_0

h.Duplicate request_0

i.other (specify)_0

VI.APPEALS OF INITIAL DENIALS OF FOIA/PA
REQUESTS

A.Numbers of appeals

1.Number of appeals received during fiscal
year6

2.Number of appeals processed during fiscal
year7

B.Disposition of appeals

1.Number completely upheld4

2.Number partially reversed1

3.Number completely reversed0

a.Number of times each FOIA exemption used:

Exemption 10

Exemption 20

Exemption 30

Exemption 40

Exemption 53

Exemption 62

Exemption
7 (A)0

Exemption 7 (B)0

Exemption 7 (C)2

Exemption 7 (D)0

Exemption 7 (E)0

Exemption 7 (F)0

4.Other reasons for nondisclosure (total):2

a. No records0

b. Referrals1

c. Request
Withdrawn1

d. Fee-related
reason0

e.Records not reasonably described0

f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other
reason0

g. Not an agency record0

h. Duplicate Request0

i. Other: (Adequacy of Search)0

VII.COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF
PENDING REQUESTS

A.Average processing time for requests
processed during the year:

NOTE:NSF uses a
single first-in, first-out method of processing requests.The agency received no requests for
expedited access during fiscal year 2002.

1.Number of requests processed_254

2.Median number of days to process10.39

B.Status of pending requests:

1.Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year
(see V.A.4)2

2.Median number of days that such requests were pending as of
that date 25